Embodiments of the present invention relate to a hybrid platform, and more particularly to a single package including disparate devices.
Integrated circuits (ICs) are ubiquitous in computer systems, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the like. Furthermore, such devices are present in all manners of consumer products as embedded devices. In addition, ICs exist throughout automobile and other technologies as embedded applications. Such semiconductor devices are typically formed on semiconductor wafers using multiple semiconductor processing steps to obtain a finished wafer. The wafer is then cut into multiple die, and IC packages are formed therefrom.
The heart of most modem computer systems is a microprocessor. A microprocessor is formed on a semiconductor die which includes various circuitry including processing elements. Furthermore, most processors include at least some amount of on-board memory. This memory is often in the form of static random access memory (SRAM), which acts as a cache memory to maintain frequently accessed data in close relation to the processing elements. However, since SRAM is a volatile memory, when power is removed from the memory, all data stored therein is lost. Furthermore, the on-board memory consumes a significant amount of device real estate, preventing integration of further processing elements. Today, oftentimes up to 40% of a processor's real estate is consumed by memory. This leads to larger-sized processors, or processors having reduced memory or processing capacity.
Other components such as magnetic devices including magnetic memories (e.g., mass storage devices and other non-volatile memories), inductors, sensors and the like may be present in given systems. Such devices can be formed on magnetic wafers using multiple magnetic processing steps to obtain a finished device.
While these disparate devices (e.g., semiconductor devices and magnetic devices) can be implemented together in a single system, the design, development and formation of finished products, namely semiconductor devices and magnetic devices remain completely separate. As result, there are limitations to the interaction between semiconductor devices and magnetic devices, as such devices are joined by off-chip interconnects. Additionally, relatively large form factors are needed to employ these disparate devices.